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According to Josef Fares, the founder of Hazelight Studios, microtransactions won’t ever find a place in their games. In a recent conversation, he discussed this commitment and also addressed the possibility of Hazelight being sold.
Hazelight, established in 2014, has carved out a niche for captivating co-op gaming experiences with just two standout titles: A Way Out and It Takes Two, launched in 2018 and 2021, respectively. Their next project, Split Fiction, is slated to hit the market on March 6, 2025.
Before Split Fiction’s release, Josef Fares engaged in a candid interview with Ben Hanson from MinnMax, where he outlined Hazelight’s journey and future plans. During this dialogue, Fares asserted that microtransactions will never be a part of Hazelight’s offerings. He described their design philosophy succinctly as one that steers clear of nonsense.
In the same interview, Fares touched on the recent trend of companies being acquired in the gaming sector. While there’s been some interest from outside parties in purchasing Hazelight, Fares has no intention of selling. “Hazelight is not for sale,” he said clearly, and added that the company won’t be entering the stock market either.
Interestingly, Split Fiction could have ended up with a different name. Initially, it was codenamed “Split,” and another name considered was “Worlds Apart.” However, Fares decided against it for being too generic. He also reiterated his aversion to microtransactions, aligning with his previous statements to Eurogamer in February 2025, where he expressed Hazelight’s reluctance towards live-service games. Fares has consistently voiced his opposition to unconventional business models in gaming; back in 2021, he famously remarked that he would rather endure a painful injury than see Hazelight embrace NFTs.
Fares also gave an update regarding the team size at Hazelight, revealing it now stands at roughly 80 employees. This number represents about a 23% increase since 2021 when they had around 65 people. With the evolving technical demands of game creation, Hazelight might continue to expand, especially if Split Fiction mirrors the success of It Takes Two or achieves the milestones of A Way Out, which have sold approximately 23 million and 9 million copies, respectively.
Source: Eurogamer
